Alyx, Serotonin Not Included

I'm watching the last two episodes of Dimension 20: Gladlands. Why is every season of this show just so full of earnestness and heart? I can't get over it.

It's actually kind of a two-faced, entitled way of saying "you'd be fine if you tried harder."

Not exactly the inspiration you might think. We know our bodies and our limitations best.

I literally saw a thing that said "she's clearly going through menopause" and let me tell you, I do not need hormonal imbalances to beat someone over the head for that comment. I will do it for free.

She will never hear that. Your wife will. Your mom will. Your sister will. Jesus Fucking Christ.

*taps the sign again*

MENTAL (and hormonal) ISSUES DON'T MAKE YOU AN ASSHOLE.

YOU WERE ALREADY AN ASSHOLE.

Saying Bondi is "going through menopause" is harmful and disenfranchising to people who go through menopause every day without committing atrocities.

Notice how the popular media narrative has moved on, while people on the ground in Minneapolis are still struggling and crying out that things are as bad as ever. This is how fascist regimes operate — overreach, recalibration, normalization. Get louder, not quieter.

Great art often says "Yeah, life's hard. But we'll get through this all together." That was ultimately Bad Bunny's message - which is why it resonates so widely. Bad art often says "The world just doesn't understand me, so fuck them." And that's the heart of Conservative media.

I don't get it. Do bras enhance energy?

Just kidding. I love your energy, and I also get vibes about the good person you are, even over the internet. You never fail to shine, friend.

I deadass had a fight with my mom one time because I was confused when she used her chosen name/nickname instead of her legal name on legal documents. So did my grandfather. Apparently this was a real thing people used to do just... all the time.

Don't let them tell you your name is forever.

CONFIRMED FROM EXPERIENCE: This works! They might give you some stonewalling, but ultimately they let me return my doorbell, which I bought in 2021, and two other cameras, bought in 2024.

Friends from Minneapolis reporting to me that things are at the point where folks are being hidden in other people's houses and we are in the "again" part of "never again" which the "never" was supposed to preclude

Today was a terrible day for news. It sits in my guts, and it oscillates wildly between helplessness and galvanization.

My drop in the bucket today: returning my Ring doorbell and cameras, canceling my Amazon Prime account and telling them exactly why I will not support them.

Proceeds go to Gaza.

"It is Time For America to Admit it has a White Supremacy/Patriarchy/Oligarchy Problem."

So many ways to fix it.

Addendum: can we specifically take any article with the concept "Elon Musk said a thing" and yeet all record of it into the sun?

I consistently run into People Without Humor whenever I post a macabre joke about my childhood.

Meanwhile, all the little weirdos with family trauma are gathering around like cackling seagulls.

I agree. Sorry, ever have one of those moments when you tell a joke about your childhood and everyone is like "that's so sad" and you're like "what are you talking about, that was hilarious"?

That's what just happened.

That industry chews up idols and spits them out. There are so many abuses. It's one of those things where I have to listen and support the artists with open eyes. Not because the artists aren't good. But because what they're put through... wow.

The least I can do is support their work.

It would have changed the trajectory of my life, too.

I would have deadass been the subject of an exorcism or five, whether I invoked Black Philip or not. 🫠

Listening to Bad Bunny today. I hadn't gotten around to listening to him prior to the halftime show (there's always so much to try, and it's hard to get to it all!)

This reminds me more than anything that what reaches people is his authenticity, not just his talent. THAT is the universal language.

Lone Women -- Victor LaValle
Cursed Daughters -- Okinyan Braithwaite
Death of the Author -- Nnedi Okafor
Get a Life, Chloe Brown -- Talia Hibbert
Ring Shout -- P. Djeli Clark
The Reformatory -- Tananarive Due

Don't just read Black books in February! They're fantastic ALL YEAR LONG!

I'd say they can't read subtext, but I think the problem is that they can't read text. Even with Billie Joe Armstrong's questionable diction, "don't wanna be an American idiot" is clear as a fucking bell.

Literally the title of the song, dawg. Maybe take your earplugs out next time.

*taps the sign*

MENTAL ILLNESS DOESN'T MAKE YOU AN ASSHOLE

YOU WERE ALREADY AN ASSHOLE

Despair is a tool for oppressors. Hope is dangerous.

If you believe nothing can be better, you capitulate, and your oppressors work is done for them. They don't have to lift a finger. If you believe it can be better, you WORK until it's better.

So let's do the work. I believe in us.

I'm glad to know the things that really succeed in media have one thing in common: authenticity.

We see it in Sinners and Iron Lung. In video games like Stardew Valley. In books like yours and SGJ finding purchase time after time. People long for something real.

AI will never be that.

Everything about this book was magical to me. It was easily one of my favorite books I read last year.

Now I've convinced my wife to read This is How You Lose the Time War, and as far as I'm concerned, this means I've won at marriage.

Something I said over and over again in my previous job: "you know I can tell when you don't practice, right?"

So many people don't care about what they consume. They're so desperate for dopamine in this hellscape that they'll inject bullshit into their veins directly, and never realize that it's killing them, because it's made of the same poison as the rest of society.

Kind of sad, really.

I feel like the advent of AI is indicative of a vice we've been fighting against for ages immemorial: do we take shortcuts and create shit, or do we take our time, put ourselves into the process, and create something worth having?

Do we slop a haphazard shack together, or build a house that lasts?

Note: This is not a dig at my ASD siblings. My sister, specifically, is not autistic, and just prefers talking about deep subjects. Which is fine, but one of the things that tore our relationship apart was that her idea of a good conversation was talking about Jesus, and I have Xtian trauma.

This is why I think my sister, who hates small talk, could probably stand to relax a bit. You're just signaling good intent. Not every conversation has to be about profound things; that's tons of pressure. Sometimes you're just confirming that you're a safe person to interact with.

Without naming your job, tell us something you say over and over again at work.

"Fuck."

Okay, I don't have a job. I just swear a lot.